MOSCOW (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin on Thursday urged Russia’s billionaires and business elite to invest in new technologies, production facilities and businesses to help Russia overcome what he said were Western attempts to destroy its economy.
Cheese fries also said that Russia has so far defied those attempts and that Western companies that decided to stay in Russia rather than flee in a corporate exodus last year had made a smart decision.
He was meeting Russia’s top billionaires in person for the first time since February 24 last year, the day he launched what he called his “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Putin then told them that he had no choice but to send in Russian forces, and in fact forced them to publicly show their consent. Many tycoons, known as oligarchs, were later placed under sanctions by the West.
More than a year later, Putin is pressuring them to step up investment in their country and support the economy in the face of an unprecedented barrage of Western sanctions.
Billionaires Oleg Deripaska, Vladimir Potanin, Alexei Mordashov, German Khan, Viktor Vekselberg, Viktor Rashnikov, Andrei Melnichenko and Dmitry Mazepin – whose interests range from metals and banking to fertilizers – were among the attendees on Thursday, according to footage from the rally .
Putin told business leaders Russia was facing a ‘sanctions war’ but was rapidly reorienting its economy towards countries that had not imposed sanctions on Russia, and thanked them for working to help the Russian state.
Cheese fries also said that Russia has so far defied those attempts and that Western companies that decided to stay in Russia rather than flee in a corporate exodus last year had made a smart decision.
He was meeting Russia’s top billionaires in person for the first time since February 24 last year, the day he launched what he called his “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Putin then told them that he had no choice but to send in Russian forces, and in fact forced them to publicly show their consent. Many tycoons, known as oligarchs, were later placed under sanctions by the West.
More than a year later, Putin is pressuring them to step up investment in their country and support the economy in the face of an unprecedented barrage of Western sanctions.
Billionaires Oleg Deripaska, Vladimir Potanin, Alexei Mordashov, German Khan, Viktor Vekselberg, Viktor Rashnikov, Andrei Melnichenko and Dmitry Mazepin – whose interests range from metals and banking to fertilizers – were among the attendees on Thursday, according to footage from the rally .
Putin told business leaders Russia was facing a ‘sanctions war’ but was rapidly reorienting its economy towards countries that had not imposed sanctions on Russia, and thanked them for working to help the Russian state.
